


Revolution

by The Neon Gang (clgfanfic)



Series: Magnificent Seven (TV) - Comfort's Bed [9]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: M/M, Metafiction, Old West, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 22:14:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1151408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clgfanfic/pseuds/The%20Neon%20Gang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are going to change...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revolution

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine Seven Card Stud #5 under the pen name Cheyenne Winnie, and then in the standalone novel Comfort's Bed.
> 
> This is part of a larger metafiction that includes the Old West and ATF Denver AU worlds. There are dreams within dreams, realities within realities,but it all works out in the end as a Chris/Vin world, so be warned if you prefer a different paring.

Sequel to "Late Night Patrol" and "Revelations."

 

          Walking along the boardwalk on his way to the livery stable, Buck Wilmington drew in a deep breath and let it out in a long, contented sigh as he enjoyed the warm spring day.  The weather was glorious, not too hot, not too cold.  And after a too-hot, too-long summer and a too-cold, too-wet winter, it was nothing short of perfection as far as the ladies' man was concerned.

But one good thing had come from the rainy months just past.  All that rain in the winter meant that the desert was now in bloom, wildflowers creating pockets of unexpected color.  Buck was looking forward to enjoying the glorious display of beauty during his patrol.

          A smile turned up the corners of his mouth.  He was also almost positive he wouldn’t be riding alone today and he was looking forward to some company this time out.  The grin widened in expectation.

Over the past few months he'd gotten pretty good at guessing when Vin would volunteer to accompany him, or just show up along the way somewhere.  And if the tracker did, Buck also had a pretty good idea what they would end up doing.

          His cock tingled with anticipation.  It had been a couple of weeks since the last time Vin had come along with him on a patrol, the two of them stopping along the way to take care of some business.  It was definitely time for Tanner to tag along again.

Buck had been watching Vin watching Chris from under his slouch hat, and he'd seen the longing and hunger in the tracker's eyes, especially the past few days.  But Larabee had been oblivious to it all, just like he always was.

          There were times Buck considered confronting Chris about Vin's feelings, but he'd always talked himself out of it.  Now he wasn't sure if that was because he was afraid of what Vin might say, or do, if he found out Buck had spoken to Chris, or if he was just trying to keep the tracker to himself for as long as possible.  Because Buck had discovered, much to his surprise, that he was captivated by Tanner.  He loved the feel of the man's body under his, all hard muscles and warm, smooth skin that was marked by the scars of a too-harsh life.  He loved the feel of the tracker writhing and twisting beneath him as he slowly filled the man's ass with his cock.  It was like nothing he'd ever had with a woman and he wasn't looking forward to losing it.

          As a result, time with Tanner was something he'd found himself wanting, more and more of, although not just for the sex, which surprised him a little.  Their times together had meant he'd also gotten to know the tracker better.  And what he'd found in Tanner was a boon companion.

He also knew that when he was loving Vin, he was helping the man forget, at least for a little while, that he probably wasn't going to get the one he really wanted.

          Maybe it was because he was helping Vin to forget, but what he loved the most was the look on Vin's face as he slept after they had made love – the tracker's expression relaxed and serene.  Tanner looked so much younger than his years then, so much at peace… happy, even.  He wanted to see that look on the man's face more often.

          But the ladies' man knew all too well that it wasn't _him_ the tracker was dreaming about, it wasn't even him he was thinking about while they made love.  It was Larabee who haunted Vin's thoughts, dreams, fantasies, and desires.  And Buck encouraged it, whispering into Vin's ear as he slid in and out of him, telling him that he _was_ Chris, telling him how much he, Chris, wanted him… how good he felt.  It was a lie, of course, but they both enjoyed the results.

          At the same time, it made Buck mad.  It wasn't like Chris had no idea about what they were doing, because he was sure Larabee did.  It was exactly the same kind of thing he and Chris had done, now and again, before the gunman had met Sarah.  And they had both enjoyed it well enough those times they'd shared each other.  So why was Chris being so damned careful _not_ to let Vin get close to him?

Buck was sure Chris knew what Tanner's feelings for him were, knew too that the tracker was interested in him in a carnal way.  But Larabee never let anything out, not any more.  Not to Buck, or Vin, or anyone else as far as the ladies' man could tell.  Maybe the ability to really care again, to love, had been burned out of Chris in that fire.

          It just didn't seem fair.  There was something special about Vin, something that made the ladies' man want to protect him, make him happy.  Maybe it was because he honestly liked Tanner, and he was sure Vin hadn't found much happiness in his life.  He wanted to help the younger man find some now.  And happiness was so damned close.  If Larabee would just get off his sorry ass and _do_ something about it.

          He sighed again, this time in frustration as he reached the livery.  Going in to saddle Beavis, he noted that Peso was already gone.  A grin lifted the corners of his mouth, chasing away the shadows of depression that had started to gather.  Tanner _would_ be waiting for him somewhere along the way, and when Buck found him, he knew what the tracker would be wanting.  Well, good, because he was more than willing to give the man whatever he could, even if it was just a shadow of what he really wanted.

          Wilmington had just taken his grey out of her stall when he heard someone else enter the livery.  He glanced over his shoulder, surprised to find Chris standing there watching him, an unreadable expression on his handsome face.

          "Patrol?" Larabee finally asked him.

          Buck nodded, saying, "Takin' Ezra's."

          "Lost one too many hands again," the blond said, a slight smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

          The ladies' man just shrugged as he went about saddling and bridling his horse.  "I swear the man cheats, Chris, but I can't catch him at it.  When I do…"

          "Seen Vin?" Larabee interrupted.

          Buck hesitated a moment, his heart starting to beat a little faster.  "Not since this morning.  Why?"

          Larabee moved closer, leaning up against the empty stall before he said, "Noticed the two of you have been going out together more often lately."

          "Yeah?" Buck asked, finding it a little harder to breathe than he was used to.  So Chris _had_ figured out what was going on.  _Well, so what if he has?_ the ladies' man thought.  It was no one's business except his and Vin's.  If Chris wanted the tracker, he could just tell Vin so.

          "Yeah," Larabee replied, a slight edge to his voice.

          Buck finished and stepped up into his saddle.  "Ya got somethin' to say, stud?"

          Chris thought a moment, muscles along his jaw twitching, then he shook his head and started for the doors.

          "Damn it, Chris," Buck growled, "if it bothers ya, _do_ something about it."

          "Nothing to do," Larabee replied without looking back.  "He's made his choice."

          Buck rolled his eyes and huffed, then gigged the horse and moved up alongside the gunslinger.  "That's bullshit, Chris, and you know it," he hissed, just loud enough for Larabee to hear.  "It ain't _me_ he wants – never was.  But I guess I'll do in a pinch.  And you know what, pard?  Least I care enough t' be there for him when he needs me."

And with that the ladies' man rode on past Larabee without a backward look.  He wasn't sure he'd said the right thing, but he'd said when he'd needed to say.  The rest was up to Chris.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          Buck's anger quickly faded as he rode along, his gaze sweeping the landscape.  The colorful spring day was too pretty to waste on frustration with Chris Larabee, and he pushed the thoughts of the encounter with his oldest friend out of his thoughts.  He checked in with several of the farmers and homesteaders along his trail, accepting a piece of apple pie and a cup of coffee from Mrs. Murphy, playfully teasing Anna and Marie while he enjoyed both.  The eight-year-old twins took great pride in showing off their matching rag dolls, and Buck complimented the dollies on their "pretty dresses," which had the girls giggling.

          It was near the end of his circuit when Buck spotted Peso tied up outside the old Miller barn.  George Miller and his wife had moved on after their house had burned down, killing their infant daughter, but the barn was still there.

          He reined Beavis off the trail and hurried the big grey down to the structure.  Peso nickered in welcome just before the cantankerous gelding tried to take a bite out of Buck, and his horse.

          The ladies' man tied Beavis up a safe distance from Tanner's monster and headed into the barn.  It was dark inside, but not so dark that he couldn't see Vin lying on his bedroll, which he'd tossed onto an old hay pile.  The tracker wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing, and he was slowly stroking his already hard cock.

          "Damn, Bucklin, thought ya weren't ever gonna get here," Tanner drawled in his usually raspy voice, but it sounded as sweet as honey to Wilmington.

          The ladies' man grinned and began stripping off his clothes as he walked over to join the tracker.  "Mrs. Murphy invited me in for a piece of her apple pie," he said, pulling off his boots, hopping on one foot and then the other as he did.  "Couldn't turn that down, now could I?"

          "Reckon not," Vin agreed, watching as Buck hurriedly pulled off the rest of his clothes, his own hand continuing to move up and down his rigid shaft.

          When the ladies' man was naked, he dropped down beside Tanner on the blankets, swatting the tracker's still-moving hand away, his own fingers curling around the long, thick pole.  "Mmm," he sighed as he gave Vin's cock a good, hard squeeze, noting the bottle of oil near by, waiting to be used.

          Vin bucked his hips, saying, "Hurry up, Bucklin, 'm tired 'a waitin'."

          The desire in the tracker's voice sent a shot of lust straight through the ladies' man's cock and it started to fill even as he reached for the waiting bottle.

          Vin rolled over and opened his legs wide.

          Buck crawled between the tracker's splayed legs and opened the bottle, pouring a little of the oil into the tracker's crack.  Vin moaned and ground his hips into the blankets.  "C'mon, Bucklin."

          Knowing Tanner was in a hurry, Buck grinned and pressed two fingers into the tight crack, finding the tracker's puckered opening and rubbing the oil over and into it.  Then he pressed both digits inside the tight, hot channel.

          "Hurry, Bucklin," Vin groaned, pressing his hips up, forcing Buck's fingers deeper into himself.  "Get yer cock inside me."

          The words, more demanding than the ladies' man had ever heard, helped fill his erection to full hardness.  He plunged his fingers into the tracker twice more, then pulled them out and cupped his hand, pouring more of the oil into his palm.  He replaced the stopper in the bottle and set it safely out of the way, rubbing the oil onto his shaft, anticipation and the friction of his hand quickly bringing him to the brink.

          Vin lifted his ass into the air and Buck reached down and pulled the man's cheeks open, the pink pucker hiding inside winking at him.  He positioned his cock against that opening and started to press, but the oil was slippery and his cock shot up the crack of Tanner's ass in a glancing blow.

The tracker whined and cursed softly.

          Buck chuckled softly when Vin reached back and held his cheeks open so the ladies' man could guide the head of his cock to the pulsing opening a second time.  Gripping the base of his shaft, Buck shoved forward, forcing the knob past the tight ring of muscle.

          Vin squirmed and groaned, his hands falling away.

          Buck pulled the man's cheeks open again, watching as he slowly pressed his entire length into the hot, velvet passage.  Tanner was sweating and trembling when Buck was finished, his balls mashed up against Vin's ass.

Then, Wilmington slid his hands up and grabbed hold of Vin's hips, pulling out halfway and shoving back in fully with a quick thrust.

          "Ahhh," Vin moaned, "yeah… c'mon, Bucklin… fuck me."

          Buck shivered and began to pump his hips, sliding slowly in and out of the tight channel until he felt the tracker's muscles loosen.  Then he picked up the pace, plunging into the hot fist that seemed to clutch at the entire length of his shaft all at once.

          "Oh, shit," Buck hissed, feeling his climax begin earlier than he'd expected.

          Vin moaned, thrusting his hips back to meet Buck's tempo, but then the tracker went rigid and the ladies' man's eyes popped open.  Wilmington froze too, his cock buried all the way up Tanner's ass.

          Chris Larabee stood in front of them, green eyes flashing, a bulge straining the front of his black pants.

          For several long moments, the only sound in the barn was the heaving breaths of the two coupled men, then Larabee said to Buck, "Pull his shoulders up."

          Buck swallowed hard, but he leaned over Vin's back, gripped the man's shoulders and pulled him up so the tracker was facing Larabee on his knees, the ladies' man's cock still buried in his ass.

Wilmington felt and saw the blush that colored Tanner's body, and Vin dipped his head, cursing softly.  Buck watched as Chris glanced down at Tanner's erection, then opened his pants and pulled out his own engorged cock.  Stepping up in front of the tracker, Chris grabbed the man's head and growled, "Take it."

          Vin whimpered and trembled, but he opened his mouth and Chris forced his cock into it, moving closer until Tanner's nose was buried in the gunslinger's hairy groin.

          Green eyes met Buck's deep blue.  "What're ya waiting for?" Larabee asked softly.

          The ladies' man hesitated a moment, then began pumping the tracker's ass again, slowly at first, but then picking up the pace as his own need took over.

          Vin moaned, his eyes closed, his mouth full of Larabee's manhood.  His hands came up, holding onto the gunslinger's hips as he tried to concentrate on devouring the man's cock while Buck's filled his ass.  His own cock jumped and throbbed, screaming for attention, but he knew he wasn't going to get any, not yet anyway.

          For his part, Buck's gaze was locked on Chris's cock as it moved in and out of Vin's mouth.  He hunched his shoulders, his hips driving faster as he felt his balls draw up in preparation for his climax.  And then he was crying out, shooting his seed deep into the tracker's ass.

          As Buck's hips jerked wildly, Larabee reached up and grabbed the sides of Vin's head, forcing himself down the man's throat a couple of times, then took a quick step backward before he went too far and came.

          Buck was slumped over Vin's shoulders, panting, his body still shaking in the aftermath of his orgasm, but he saw the hunger in Chris's eyes and quickly moved out of the way.

          "Turn around," Larabee told the tracker, voice low and dangerous.

          Vin didn't move at first, but then he finally looked up at the blond, the truth of his feelings for the gunslinger all too clear in his startling blue eyes.

          "I won't hurt you," Chris promised gently as he reached out to cup the side of the tracker's face.

          Buck lay back on his discarded clothes, watching the scene playing out in front of him, his heart racing.

          Vin turned around, still on his knees.  Behind him, Chris pushed his pants down and stepped up behind the tracker.

          Buck held up the small bottle of oil and Chris took it, pouring some of the liquid into his hand and rubbing it over his aching cock.  He reached out and lightly ran his hand over Tanner's hair, watching as the tracker's body trembled violently under his light touch.

          Realizing it would be easier if he wasn't dressed, Larabee quickly pulled his clothes off, then ordered Tanner, "Lay down."

          Vin leaned forward, lying down in the middle of the bedroll, his breath already coming in a soft pant.

          "Open your legs for me," Larabee said softly, and Tanner complied.

          The gunslinger settled between them, then reached out and carefully stroked Vin's back and buttocks, enjoying how the man jerked and twitched under his touch, whimpering with each light caress.

Chris leaned over, whispering into the tracker's ear, "Show me what you want."

          Vin drew his knees up under him, then reached back and pulled his cheeks open as he had for Buck.

          Chris licked his suddenly dry lips and grabbed the base of his cock, directing it to the waiting entrance.  He pressed himself against the pulsing opening and paused, not wanting to hurt Vin.  But Tanner was well ahead of him and he shoved his hips back, popping the head of Larabee's cock into his ass.  Both men sucked in sharp breaths as they were joined for the first time.

          The heat and tightness were overwhelming and Chris couldn't stop himself.  He gripped Vin's hips and drove himself into Tanner's core with two hard thrusts of his hips.

The tracker mewed with pain, but he didn't pull away.

          "Easy, stud, easy" Buck cautioned Larabee, reaching out to grab the gunman's arm, blue eyes flashing in warning.

          Chris ground his teeth together and was able to still his hips, but his cock was already buried as deeply as it could be inside the tracker.  Sweat rolled off his face, dripping onto Vin's bare back.  "Sorry," he said, the word coming out as a whisper, his throat tight with longing.

          "Nice an' slow," the ladies' man said, beginning to stroke his own reviving erection.

          Chris sucked in a deep breath, nodded his understanding, and slowly withdrew until only the head of his cock was still buried inside the tracker.  He pressed back in with one steady, careful stroke.

          This time Vin moaned with pleasure and began to rock his hips in short, fast jerks.

          Chris closed his eyes, lost in the sensations assailing his cock.  He could feel every inch of himself being grabbed and squeezed by that incredible soft heat.  Before long his hips picked up Vin's rhythm and he was quickly plunging into the tight passage with abandon, Vin heaving himself back to meet each powerful thrust.

          "Oh God… Chris… oh shit… Chris, Chris… ah, yesss… Chris…"

          Larabee shook each time his name passed Vin's lips, knowing they were pleas for his affection, his love.  It was something he wasn't sure he could give Tanner – not that he didn't want to, he just wasn't sure he could find it in himself to care about someone like that again.

          "Chris!" Vin cried, the raw need in the man's voice triggering Larabee's climax.

Chris growled and rammed himself into the tracker's ass as deeply as he could, his body beginning to shake as the first shot of his seed fired into Vin's body.  And then he was coming, again and again, grunting and jerking against the tracker's ass as his balls emptied for the first time in too long.  His hips continued to hump against Tanner even after he was empty, the waves of pleasure fading slowly.

          When his cock began to soften, he carefully pulled out of Vin's ass and collapsed onto the blanket, greedily sucking in great gulps of air.

          Vin collapsed as well, but then rolled over, his engorged cock standing straight up, red and leaking.  He started to reach for it, but Buck beat him to it, sucking the tracker's manhood into his mouth.

          "Ahhh!" Tanner cried, his hips bucking up, then jerking wildly as he shot his seed down Wilmington's throat.

          Buck was surprised by how long the tracker continued to come, and by the sheer amount of seed that filled his mouth, too much to swallow it all and the excess dribbled over his chin.

          Chris watched the spectacle, his own cock jerking in response, but there was nothing left for him to give.

          When Vin finally quieted, Buck lay down on the other side of the man, cocooning Tanner between himself and Chris.

Vin opened his eyes and blinked owlishly, glancing from Buck to Chris.  He smiled contentedly and dropped off to sleep.

          The two old friends lay for a while in the silence, then Chris asked, "He always fall asleep like this?"

          "Usually," Buck replied, grinning at the honest affection in the gunman's voice.  Then he sobered and asked, "Why'd you come, Chris?"

          "I don't know," Larabee replied honestly.  He stared down at the sleeping tracker, then reached out and brushed a lock of hair off Tanner's sweat-dampened cheek.  "Guess I decided to do what you told me to do."  When Buck looked confused he added, "You said if it bothered me I should do something about it.  I did….  That going to be a problem for you?"

          Buck shook his head.  "I've known all along that you're the one he wants, Chris.  Hell, guess I was feelin' sorry for him and, well, I don't know, those two cowboys I saw that time just kept hauntin' me, and it just… happened."

          "Do you care about him?"

          "Of course I do," Buck replied, looking half-mad, half-hurt.

          Chris nodded and said quietly.  "I'm not sure I can, not the way he wants me to.  Maybe he'd be better off with you and–"

          "Chris, he cares about _you_.  He's my friend, and that's not gonna change, but what he feels for you isn't friendship."

          "I know that, too.  But I just don't think I can open myself up for that again."

          "Hell, stud, you already have and you don't even know it.  Ever since you met him, you've been alive again, and being alive means you can get hurt."

          "Half-alive," Chris amended.

          "Hell, Chris, do you really think she'd want you to live like this?  She loved you."

          Larabee looked up at the ladies' man, his eyes flashing, but then he dipped his head and shook it.  "No.  No, I know she wouldn't, but I can't help it."

          "Damn it, Chris, just take what's being offered and do the best ya can.  That's all he wants; all he needs from you, too."

          Larabee sighed and looked back down at the sleeping tracker.  The desire he'd seen in the man's eyes had been unsettling, but not as disconcerting as the love he'd seen shining there from time to time.  Now there was no running from either truth.

          And, when he really thought about it, he didn't want to run any more.  He was tired, damned tired of running.  And he was even more tired of the aching pain.  With a start, he realized that the emptiness that always haunted him seemed to have disappeared.

          He looked down at Vin and realized the hole in his heart had been filled by the tracker.  Tears burned his eyes and he looked away, letting them fall.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          Vin woke to the twin sensations of someone stroking his cock and someone lightly kissing his throat.  He moaned softly, his eyes still shut, and drifted to consciousness bathed in the twin pleasures that thrummed through his body.

He didn't want to open his eyes, didn't want to leave the dream that had held him in its power: Chris had lain with him.

          It wasn't possible, and yet it had felt so very, _very_ real.

Even now he thought he could feel the gunslinger teasing his hard nipples with his fingertips while his lips blazed a path along Tanner's shoulder.  That would leave Buck stroking his cock…

          He gasped softly when teeth worried on one of his nipples, a tongue laving him gently afterwards.  Lips closed and suckled him, sending his head rolling from side to side, his fingers curling into the blanket he was lying on.  He moaned, the sound soft and low and slightly desperate.

          "Easy, pard," Buck soothed.  "Ya just let us make you feel good."

          Hands rubbed along the inside of his thighs and Vin opened his legs without thinking as his other nipple was attacked.

          Sensations from two places on his body washed over him, carrying him to new heights of pleasure.  Vin kept his eyes closed, trying to guess who was doing what to him.  Who was kissing him… Chris… who was fondling his balls… Buck… who was stroking his aching cock… oh, God, it was both of them.  He could feel their fingers strike each other, slide over each other… and then someone took him into his mouth and Vin gasped and thrashed.

When the hand suddenly held him down, his eyes flew open.  "No!" he cried, body jerking tight to fight.

          "Easy.  Vin, easy," Chris said, looking down at the tracker worriedly.  "Easy, Cowboy, we aren't going to hurt you.  You know we'd never hurt you."

          Buck rose from where he was nestled between the tracker's legs, his brow furrowed, dark blue eyes flashing with worry as well.  "Vin?  Ya all right, stud?  Did I hurt ya?"

          Tanner began to shiver and allowed Chris to help him up to a seated position.

          "Vin, what's wrong?" Larabee demanded, but he kept his voice pitched soft.

          The tracker shook his head, refusing to meet either man's gaze.  "Ain't nothin' important," he replied.  "Sorry if I gave y' the worry."

          Buck and Chris exchanged glances, both knowing there was more, much more being left unsaid, but neither was willing to push Vin, not yet, anyway.

          Chris reached out, cupping the tracker's chin and turning his head to him, then he leaned in and kissed Tanner's lips, softly at first, then with more force.

Vin slowly slumped back onto the bedroll, moaning softly, his cock hardening once again.  Buck went back to work on him while Chris continued to ravage the tracker's mouth.

          Within a few minutes Vin had been reduced to a quaking mass of pure need.  "Chris," he rasped, head rolling side to side.

          "What do you want?" Larabee asked him.

          Tanner's eyes opened again, blue eyes meeting green.  "Don't think ya want t' hear that, Cowboy," he panted.

          Chris smiled a little sadly.  "Might be able to give more than you think, if you'll give me some time."

          "Give ya anything ya need."

          "Tell me what you want me to do now, right now," Larabee told the tracker.

          Vin moaned and he closed his eyes again.  "Hold me," he said so softly the gunslinger wasn't sure he'd heard it at first.

          "That's all?" he asked, more than a little confused.

          Tanner opened his eyes and nodded, blue eyes pleading with him to comply.

          Chris stretched out alongside the tracker, pulling him into his arms while Buck continued his assault on Vin's cock.  Larabee stroked the smaller man's chest and arm, teased the twin hard nubs and whispered his willingness to try and give Vin everything he wanted into his ear.

          When he came, Vin bucked wildly, his seed once again filling Buck's mouth, and when his climax finally ended, he lay in the arms of the man he cared most for in the world.  He lifted his head and looked down at Buck, who was grinning like a fool.  "Damn, stud, yer good."

          "Of course I am!" the ladies' man crowed.

          Chris chuckled and snugged Vin tighter against his chest, not wanting to let go.

          Wilmington stood, his cock softening since he'd jerked himself off as he'd taken care of Vin.  He dressed and looked down at the two men.  "Why don't ya head out to your place," he told Chris.  "I'll tell the others you're heading into the hills for a couple of days."

          Larabee nodded, his thanks obvious in his eyes.

          Buck's gaze shifted to Tanner.  "Don't know if you'll be sharin' any more patrols with me," he said softly, "and that's all right if ya don't, but I wanted to tell you that I'll always be a friend.  Always.  Comprende?"

          Vin met the man's eyes and nodded, grateful to have found a friend like this one.  "Ya c'n count me a friend too, Bucklin."

          Wilmington nodded, then, bringing his finger to the brim of his hat, he turned and left them alone.

          The two men lay in the old barn for a few more minutes, holding on to one another, neither sure what to do or say next.  Finally, Chris reached for his clothing and began to dress, Tanner following his lead.

          When they were ready to leave, Vin said softly, "Don't have t' do nothin' ya don't want t' do."

          Larabee nodded.  "Nope."

          "I c'n go out t' yer place… or head back t' town… whatever ya think's best."

          Chris studied Vin, reading him as easily as Tanner could decipher tracks.  Vin wanted to go out to his cabin.  He wanted to be a part of Chris's life, wanted a place in his heart and in his bed.  And Larabee was tired of being alone and, more than that, he was tired of being lonely.

          "Cabin's kinda small… but guess it wouldn't be too hard to make it a little bigger."

          Tanner nodded, his chin down, too afraid to hope.  "Reckon not."

          Chris let a small smile crinkle the corners of his mouth and eyes.  "Gonna have to make it bigger if I'm gonna put a bigger bed in there."

          Vin blushed furiously, but he grinned and lifted his head, blue eyes meeting Larabee's green.  "Won't take too long, both 'a us workin' on it."

          "And until then, I guess we'll just have to make do."

          Vin nodded, his heart swelling until it felt like it might burst in his chest.  "Makin' do is what I do best," he said.

          Chris closed the distance between them.  Squeezing Vin's shoulder he said, "Makin' do is what ya do until what you want comes along."

          "I know," Vin said quietly.  "Stopped makin' do the day we all agreed t' ride the river t'gether."

          "And the ride's about to get a little wilder," Larabee told him.

 

 

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